1. 18th Congress of the
Philippines
Geraldine Roman

2. Geraldine Roman
Geraldine Batista Roman (born April 23, 1967) is
a Filipina journalist and politician serving as
the Representative of Bataan's 1st district since 2016. She is the
first transgender person elected to the Congress of the
Philippines.[1][2]
She was named as one of the 100 Leading Global Thinkers of
2016 by US-based Foreign Policy magazine; one of "13 Inspiring
Women of 2016" list by Time magazine.

3. Biography
Geraldine Roman was born as a male, she is second of four children born into the
family of politicians Herminia Roman and Antonino Roman, Jr.[5] She was teased by
her classmates but her father taught her to be confident.[6]
Roman attended the basic education unit of Ateneo de Manila University for her
elementary and high school studies. For her collegiate studies, she attended
the University of the Philippines Diliman. She managed to secure a scholarship to
pursue journalism at the University of the Basque Country in Spain and attained
two master's degrees.[7] She worked in Spain as a senior editor for the Spanish
News Agency before returning to the Philippines in 2012 to take care of her father,
who was seriously ill by that time.

4. Political career
Congress
During the 2016 Philippine elections, Roman ran under the Liberal
Party banner for the position of 1st District Representative for Bataan
in the House of Representatives. She competed
against Hermosa mayor Danilo Malana of Aksyon Demokratiko and
won with more than 62% of the total votes and became the first ever
transgender congresswoman in the Congress of the Philippines.
Roman succeeded the incumbent, her mother Hermina Roman, who
had a limited term.

5. She, along with other elected lawmakers (collectively known as "equality
champs"), launched the passage of the anti-discrimination bill on the basis
of sexual orientation and gender identity (now known as the SOGIE Equality
Bill) through a speech in the House of Representatives that garnered
international support for LGBT rights in the Philippines.[8] She also filed bills
regarding eco-tourism, livelihood enhancements, agriculture advancements,
health, and education, which were the advocacies of her family, and were
focused on the first district of Bataan. She was named as one of the "13
Inspiring Women of 2016" by Time magazine in October 2016.[9][10] She left
the Liberal Party in May 2017 and transferred to PDP–Laban, the current
ruling political party of the Philippines, to hasten the House passage of the
bills that she supported.[11] In September 2017, the SOGIE Equality
Bill passed unanimously in the House of Representatives, after 17 years of
political limbo, with no lawmakers voting against it.

6. In January 2018, Roman, along with the House Speaker, filed House Bill 6595 (the
Civil Partnership Bill), which seeks to legalize civil unions, regardless of
gender.[12] In February, Roman became the first transgender official of the Armed
Forces of the Philippines.[13] In August 2018, she filed the Regional Investment and
Infrastructure Council Act, which sought to create special economic zones in
Luzon.[14] In September, Roman became the first committee chair of the newly
created House Committee on Disaster Management.[15] In October, she again
pushed for the same-sex civil union bill, adding that the "sky will not fall" if the bill is
passed.[16] During the same month, she filed her certificate of candidacy for
reelection in her district.[17] In November 2018, during the first meeting of the House
Committee on Disaster Management which she chairs, Roman prioritized the
rehabilitation of the war-torn Islamic City of Marawi.[18]
In the 2019 Philippine elections, Roman ran under the PDP–Laban banner for the
position of 1st District Representative for Bataan in the House of Representatives.
She competed against Emelita Justo Lubag of Katipunan ng Demokratikong
Pilipino and won with 91% of the total votes.

7. Committee Memberships
•Veterans Affairs and Welfare, Chairperson
•Women and Gender Equality, Vice Chairperson
•Appropriations, Member of the Majority
•Climate Change, Member of the Majority
•Poverty Alleviation, Member of the Majority
•Sustainable Development Goals, Member of the Majority

8. House Measures Authored
•HB05225
AN ACT MANDATING THE PROVISION OF FREE WI-FI INTERNET ACCESS IN
PUBLIC AREAS
Status: Republic Act RA10929 enacted on 2017-08-02
•HB05563
AN ACT DECLARING APRIL 21 OF EVERY YEAR A SPECIAL NONWORKING
HOLIDAY IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF ORANI, PROVINCE OF BATAAN, IN
COMMEMORATION OF ITS FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY, TO BE KNOWN AS
"ORANI FOUNDATION DAY"
Status: Republic Act RA11145 enacted on 2018-11-09

9. •HB06178
AN ACT DECLARING JANUARY 11 OF EVERY YEAR A SPECIAL NONWORKING HOLIDAY IN THE PROVINCE OF BATAAN IN COMMEMORATION OF ITS
FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY, TO BE KNOWN AS " BATAAN FOUNDATION DAY "
Status: Republic Act RA11138 enacted on 2018-11-09
•HB07525
AN ACT INCREASING THE MONTHLY PENSION OF SENIOR VETERANS THEREBY AMENDING RA 6948, AS AMENDED
Status: Republic Act RA11164 enacted on 2018-12-20
•HB08636
AN ACT INSTITUTIONALIZING A NATIONAL INTEGRATED CANCER CONTROL PROGRAM AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR
Status: Republic Act RA11215 enacted on 2019-02-14
•HB08794
AN ACT DEFINING GENDER-BASED SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN STREETS, PUBLIC SPACES, ONLINE, WORKPLACES, AND EDUCATIONAL OR TRAINING
INSTITUTIONS, PROVIDING PROTECTIVE MEASURES AND PRESCRIBING PENALTIES THEREFOR
Status: Republic Act RA11313 enacted on 2019-04-17

10. Political positions
Federalism[edit]
Roman expressed her support for a federal form of government in the
Philippines, but stated that she will introduce a clause that aims to
guarantee the country's territorial integrity as she perceives that a
federal system without such clause will lead to separatism due to the
country's various ethnic groups, geographies, and regionalism. She
cited the Spanish federal system as a possible reference for the
Philippines' federal prospects.

11. Habeas corpus
Roman voted to approve a bill to reinstate the death penalty in the
Philippines during its final reading on March 29, 2017, which met
criticism online. She explained that she needed to compromise in
order for her other advocacies and projects to push through. Earlier,
she expressed opposition to the bill and called for the respect of the
rights of convicts for reformation. Roman held a survey to gauge the
views of her constituents in first district of Bataan and 85 percent of
participants in a survey she conducted favored death penalty.[

12. Same-sex marriage
Roman is the vice-chairperson of the Women And Gender Equality
Committee of the Philippine House of Representatives.[21] She supports
same-sex civil unions for the Philippines, but said the first priority should be
an anti-discrimination law, followed by a revision of the family code. She
believes that at the present time, a marriage equality bill will not pass in
Congress, due to the present status quo, which is why campaigning for it
should be a top priority in the coming decades. In September 2017,
the SOGIE Equality Bill passed in the House. In late 2017, Roman filed a
civil union bill that caters to both heterosexual couples and non-
heterosexual couples. The bill is backed by the majority of lawmakers in the
House of Representatives, including the House Speaker.

13. Health services
Roman is a member of the Health Committee of the House of
Representatives.[21] She has filed a Cancer Institute bill in the
House which was passed into law last February of this year as
well as a Caregiver's bill. Roman supports the Mental Health
Law, which was passed in 2017. She has filed a Hospitals
Classification Bill which seeks to standardize the equipment,
facilities, and services of hospitals on the basis of their level of
classification.

14. War veterans' rights
Roman is an advocate for war veteran rights in the Philippines.
She is the incumbent chairperson for the Veteran Affairs and
Welfare Committee in the House of Representatives. She has
filed a bill seeking to increase the monthly pension of Filipino war
veterans

15. Tourism
Roman is an avid fan of history, culture, and the environment.
She stated that her love for culture and the environment
developed at home and was polished during her almost 20 years
of stay in Spain, where she learned a lot about history and
received two master's degrees. She has filed bills for the
protection and conservation of numerous tourist sites in the first
district of Bataan.